Hebei orders normal power for housholds, cuts to other users

BEIJING, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Northern China's Hebei province
has ordered local governments to maintain normal power supplies
for residential users after one of its counties cut electricity
to households and other public facilities in a bid to meet
energy-saving goals, local media reported.

Traffic lights had been turned off and power to hospitals,
schools and residents was disrupted this month in Anping county,
as the local government scrambled to reduce power consumption to
meet this year's energy efficiency goals. [ID:nTOE68502L]

The National Development and Reform Commission said cutting
household power did not conform with central government policy
and supplies should be restored.

The provincial office for energy-saving and pollution
reduction ordered further power supply cuts for energy-intensive
and major polluting companies, the Yanzhao Metropolis Daily
reported.

Electricity to illegal energy-intensive and high-polluting
projects built since September 2009 would be cut without
exceptions, and power to outdated production capacity set for
closure this year but still in operation until the end of
September would also be stopped, the newspaper said.

China has pledged to cut energy intensity -- the amount of
fuel used to generate each unit of gross domestic product -- by
20 percent within five years from the 2005 level, but the
indicator rose 0.09 percent on the year in the first half of 2010
after falling a total of 15.61 percent for the past four years.

The central government has rush out further measures,
including shutting down outdated production capacity, raising
power tariffs for energy-intensive companies and issuing
administrative orders to regions and industries.

Some steel mills in Guangxi, Guangdong, Hebei, Jiangsu and
Zhejiang provinces have cut production following power use curbs.
An industry official estimated China's crude steel output would
decline by nearly 7 million tonnes in September, Chinese media
have reported.

Nickel pig iron output, an alternative to refined nickel used
to produce stainless steel, was also set to drop on power
restrictions, prompting a pickup in demand for refined nickel,
traders have said. [ID:nTOE68106W]
(Reporting by Jim Bai and Aizhu Chen; Editing by Chris Lewis)